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I
116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 2186
To authorize borrowers of loans under the William D. Ford Federal Direct
Loan Program to modify the interest rate of such loans to be equal
to the interest rate for such loans at the time of modification.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 9, 2019
Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. LEE
of California, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. BEYER, Mr. SCHIFF,
Mr. KHANNA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. RUSH, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr.
SCHRADER, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. MENG, Mr.
WELCH, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. PETERS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MOORE,
Mr. RASKIN, Mr. MALINOWSKI, and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor
A BILL
To authorize borrowers of loans under the William D. Ford
Federal Direct Loan Program to modify the interest
rate of such loans to be equal to the interest rate for
such loans at the time of modification.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Student Loan Refi-
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nancing Act’’.
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•HR 2186 IH
SEC. 2. BORROWER MODIFICATION OF INTEREST RATES
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UNDER THE WILLIAM D. FORD FEDERAL DI-
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RECT LOAN PROGRAM.
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Section 455(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965
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(20 U.S.C. 1087e(b)) is amended by adding at the end
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the following new paragraph:
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‘‘(11) BORROWER MODIFICATION OF INTEREST
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RATE.—
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‘‘(A)
MODIFICATION.—Notwithstanding
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the preceding paragraphs of this subsection, the
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borrower of a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a
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Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, a
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Federal Direct PLUS Loan, or a Federal Di-
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rect Consolidation Loan may elect to modify the
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interest rate of the loan to be equal to the in-
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terest rate that would be applicable to such loan
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if such loan were first disbursed (or in the case
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of a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan, first
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applied for) on the date on which such borrower
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elects to modify the interest rate of such loan.
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‘‘(B) FIXED RATE.—Except as provided in
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subparagraph (C), an interest rate elected
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under subparagraph (A) for a loan shall be
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fixed for the life of the loan.
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‘‘(C) CONTINUING
AUTHORITY
TO
MOD-
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IFY.—A borrower may elect to modify the inter-
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•HR 2186 IH
est rate of a loan in accordance with subpara-
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graph (A)—
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‘‘(i) at any time during the life of the
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loan; and
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‘‘(ii) any number of times during the
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life of the loan, except that a borrower may
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not modify the interest rate of the loan
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more than once in a six-month period.’’.
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Æ
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